Nowadays, everyone wants their children to be the smartest in the neighborhood. They spend all kinds of money on high tech gadgets made by companies that claim they can make your child incredibly intelligent. Sure, that sounds like a great idea. On the other hand, you have parents complaining because their kids are growing up too fast. The world is confusing – do we want our kids to enjoy their childhoods or be more intelligent at an earlier age?

Even baby toys are being geared towards mind stimulation. There are baby toys that have bright colors for mind stimulation. There are baby toys that speak different languages. Shouldn’t our kids learn their own primary language before having toys that speak multiple languages? Whatever happened to baby toys that allow babies to be babies? Some of the best toys for our babies are the ones that rattle and roll – allowing them to giggle and learn about how to make sounds and things move.

When my daughter was little, I was more focused on making sure that my daughter enjoyed being a child. Her baby toys were cute, cuddly, colorful and noisy. I wasn’t showing her flashcards at the age of six months old and teaching her how to add and subtract. I was rolling around on the floor with her, teaching her about animals and colors. Her baby toys allowed her to be a baby.